By SDCN Staff
Sacramento, CA–California’s Counter Drug Task Force operations have reported nearly 22,000 pounds, and more than 37 million pills containing fentanyl, with a street value of $300 million, have been seized by the state since 2023.
Through the state’s task force operations, California National Guard Task Force (Cal Guard) members have been strategically deployed statewide, including at ports of entry, to combat transnational criminal organizations and trafficking illegal narcotics like fentanyl, in support of federal, state, and local law enforcement partners.
“I’m proud of the work we are doing across the state to educate Californians on the dangers of fentanyl, remove this addictive drug off our streets, and provide treatment – like naloxone – to save lives,” said Governor Gavin Newsom.
Service members helped confiscate 557 pounds and 319,732 pills of the dangerous drug in January alone, accounting for a street valuation of $3.6 million.
In addition, Cal Guard service members continue to transform drug prevention in elementary, middle, and high schools statewide through the Task Force’s Drug Demand Reduction Outreach program. Between October and December 2024, servicemembers visited 45 high-risk schools, engaging 33,437 students. By conducting in-person outreach and understanding students’ beliefs about their health using a Health Belief Model, Cal Guard is implementing an impactful initiative in the fight against opioid abuse.
Within the last year, Governor Newsom announced continued augmentation in staffing and enforcement of Cal Guard’s illicit fentanyl operations.
The state has launched various initiatives in recent years to combat illicit opioids through the Governor’s Master Plan for Tackling the Fentanyl and Opioid Crisis, which provides a comprehensive framework to support overdose prevention efforts, hold the opioid pharmaceutical industry accountable, crack down on drug trafficking, and raise awareness about the dangers of opioids like fentanyl.
The Campus Opioid Act, signed by the governor in 2022, requires that every public college campus in California distribute a federally approved opioid overdose reversal medication like naloxone, and include information about opioid overdoses in their orientation process. Building on this effort, the Governor last year signed AB 2429, requiring that fentanyl education be included in high school health classes starting in the 2026-27 school year.
The state has provided residents with resources for prevention and treatment at opioids.ca.gov. The site provides information on how the state is working to hold big pharma and drug traffickers accountable in the crisis.
The public education campaign Facts Fight Fentanyl informs Californians about the dangers of fentanyl and how to prevent overdoses and deaths. This effort will provide critical information about fentanyl and life-saving tools such as naloxone.
Latest laboratory testing from the federal Drug Enforcement Agency indicates five out of 10 pills tested in 2024 contain a potentially deadly dose of fentanyl, which is down from seven of 10 pills in 2023.
Through the Naloxone Distribution Project, over-the-counter CalRx-branded naloxone is available statewide. The CalRx-branded over-the-counter naloxone HCL nasal spray, 4 mg, is free to eligible organizations through the state and for sale for $24 per twin-pack through Amneal. Since 2018, there have been over 334,000 reversals reported from naloxone since 2018.
In 2024, Governor Newsom doubled down on the deployment of the Cal Guard’s Counterdrug Task Force by more than doubling the number of service members supporting fentanyl interdiction, and seizing other drugs, at California ports of entry to nearly 400. Fentanyl is primarily smuggled into the country by U.S. citizens through ports of entry.
Cal Guard’s coordinated drug interdiction efforts in the state are funded in part by California’s $60 million investment over four years to expand their work to prevent drug trafficking by transnational criminal organizations.
This adds to the governor’s efforts to address fentanyl within California, including by cracking down on fentanyl in communities across the state, including San Francisco.
